


Need To Stay

by thirsyduck



Series: Duck Dump Drabble [2]
Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 1991)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:08:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24698077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thirsyduck/pseuds/thirsyduck
Summary: Darkwing wants Launchpad to stay in St. Canard with him, but what does Drake Mallard need?
Relationships: Drake Mallard/Launchpad McQuack
Series: Duck Dump Drabble [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1785571
Comments: 2
Kudos: 56





	Need To Stay

After the events of Darkly Dawns the Duck, Launchpad sticks around to help Darkwing through his recovery. He’s even more supportive when he learns of the hero’s intentions to adopt Gosalyn. The pilot travels between St. Canard and Duckburg, maintaining his employment with Scrooge McDuck while moonlighting as Darkwing Duck’s sidekick. They research adoption laws (confusing stuff!), house hunt for an address Darkwing can actually put down on an adoption form. 

Darkwing even revealed his secret identity to Launchpad. A great honor, just wow!

But Launchpad can’t afford to keep going back and forth between the two cities forever. And after a long day of helping Darkwing move into his new house, it’s time for Launchpad to return to Duckburg yet again, only this time for good. He’ll be back to St. Canard eventually, just… not as frequently.

Not that he wants to go! It’s been the best month of his life, and Drake has just been the best. Ever. Incredible inside and out of the costume. And cute to boot! But, aw shoot, Launchpad has always been fast to catch feelings. Just as fast at getting hurt, too. He needs to go before he ruins the friendship they’ve built. But he can’t help but hope…

* * *

Launchpad was standing by the door, two suitcases by his side and a wide smile spread across his big, dopey face. It was a smile Drake had both grown used to and fond of. Which was something he’s definitely not used to.

Darkwing fond of anything but himself? Ha! There was nothing worth the extra thought. Or so he _had_ thought. But here he was changing his entire life around for a kid he’s not even sure wants him as her father and here he was, arms crossed over his chest and glaring at the door behind Launchapd like it had personally offended him.

“Gee, it’s been swell working with you, DW. Being your sidekick was more exciting than that time I flew into the core of the planet and discovered a whole new civilization!”

Drake huffed a smile; amused, annoyed, and flattered all at the same time. Chipper and sweet as Launchpad usually was, Drake could never tell when he was giving a genuine compliment. The man could be so unintentionally insulting at times.

“The time you what?” He asked, leaning against the end of the staircase banister.

“Oh, you know, just another one of me and Mr. McD’s adventures.”

His smile dropped in an instant. Oh, the ever enigmatic mister McD. Launchpad didn’t talk about him much, but even without Darkwing Duck’s brilliant powers of deduction, it hadn’t been hard to figure out who his sidekick’s employer was.

“I still don’t see why you have to go back.” Drake said, irritation clear in his tone. What was in Duckburg that Launchpad couldn’t get right here in Saint Canard?

Besides a paycheck.

“You know I’d love to stay, but I’ve already missed three whole adventures, not to mention going back and forth is really taking a wallop out of my wallet.” Launchpad chuckled, which only served to further irritate Drake. What was so funny about being paid less than he’s worth? And yeah, Drake knew how much Launchpad was paid. He also knew the man was worth more than the three measly cents a mile he got for flying that old codger all around the globe.

“Isn’t he supposed to be the richest duck in the world?” Drake groused.

“Yeah, but he’s also the cheapest.” Launchpad said it so casually, like it wasn’t an insult. When it was. It’s what made telling when the man was being genuinely complimentative or actually upset so difficult. Not that Drake usually bothered to tell the difference with people. He was never around them enough to care.

That he had even started making the attempt to understand Launchpad spoke more to the man’s true value than any paycheck amount could.

McDummy probably didn’t even know Launchpad’s favorite order at Hippo Hut, or how he liked his coffee in the morning; pure milky sugar. Or how gentle he could be while wrapping bandages, or how warm his hugs were, how beautiful his eyes looked under the right light…

“Does he really need you?” Was Drake bitter that the pilot was choosing his employer over his idol? Maybe, he hated losing and that’s what this felt like. Losing to some ungrateful money grubbing miser who probably didn’t appreciate just how lucky he was to have Launchpad’s loyalty.

“Well, I dunno DW, do you?” There was a different kind of soft edge to LP’s smile, and there was that right light again…

He shook his head before he could drift off too far.

“Do I what?”

“Need me?”

Drake’s elbow slipped off the banister and he very nearly fell. Only by waving his outstretched arms in a circle by did he prevent a face plant.

“Ha, what? I need—” Drake caught himself before he could say too much. “I mean yeah, I wouldn’t mind if you stuck around, LP, but Darkwing Duck doesn’t need anybody.”

Walking over to where LP was standing, cool as a cucumber and like he hadn’t just been caught totally off guard, Drake thought he could at least get the door for the man as he left. He did _not_ think about how much he wanted to convince Launchpad not to even step one foot out of it. Not with those suitcases. Not without him.

He stepped close to the other duck, coming between him and the door, and watched as LP visibly deflated. It made Drake feel guilty, but why? He had only spoken the truth. Darkwing didn’t need anybody. And Drake Mallard… didn’t need anyone either. People needed him, it wasn’t the other way around. It couldn’t be.

“Yeah, sure DW, I know I just hoped…” LP trailed off and Drake wanted to tell him to keep talking. Mostly because it meant he wouldn’t be leaving. So that left him to do the talking, a job he was well quipped for. Most of the time. This time though…

“Okay, okay- I don’t _need_ you but, well if you want to stay here and, oh I don’t know, never go back to Duckbutt city ever again; I kind of would want that too.” Real eloquent, Drake. That’s sure to convince him.

If convincing Launchpad to stay was what he’s doing now. Which was what this felt like.

“What I’m saying is; if you want to stay… I want you to stay.” There, that was better. Maybe not the most well-crafted piece of syntax in his life, but it got the point across.

Or, apparently not.

“Oh gee, DW, of course I want to stay, but like my ma’ always says; there’s a difference between a want and a need, and you can’t always have both.”

No offence to Launchpad’s mother, but she could eat a bucket full of spider stuffed peppers. What a terrible saying! What did that even mean? Of course he could have both, why not? A hero does the impossible every day, and as Darkwing’s sidekick; Launchpad was practically an honorary half-hero.

Not to mention; _need and want mean the same thing._

But fine, if Launchpad wanted to be difficult, Drake could go along with him. Just the once. After all, he was usually the one being vague and making confusing statements that made no sense to the other duck. Of course, that was because LP couldn’t make cents out of a dollar, but…

“… I want you to stay.” He conceded as he looked over at one of the suitcases. Totally not because he couldn’t meet LP’s eyes after admitting to something so embarrassing. Because Darkwing Duck doesn’t do embarrassed. He was just… interested in the very plain tan pattern on that particular suitcase.

“Want?” Launchpad parroted with a teasing lilt, and he wanted to hit the man. He opens up and the other duck mocks him for it? Then LP reached behind the smaller duck to place a hand on the door handle and Drake snapped, grabbing Launchpad by his stupid lucky scarf and pulling the man’s face down to his level.

“I need you, alright? That what you want to hear? It’s dumb and I shouldn’t, but I do. You can pilot, you’re a great mechanic, the best sidekick I’ve ever had and yeah, I know I can be just a teensy, weensy little bit arrogant at times, but you’ve kept me from going too far this past month and... and…”

Wow, was he really going to say it? _The_ Darkwing Duck talk about his feelings like some common—

Drake saw the door reflected in Launchpad’s eyes and the words rushed out of him before he could even think to stop them.

“Look, I know I’m a hero, but… but you make me _feel_ like one. Not just Darkwing, but Drake Mallard too. I like it- you. I… need you, LP.”

Drake gulped and released his hold on Launchpad’s scarf. There, it was out in the open. Darkwing Duck needed his sidekick and Drake Mallard needed his friend. Years of vigilante vigilance spent alone, and after one month with a partner, the thought of going back to how things used to be terrified him. Him! The terror that flaps in the night!

“Oh, DW,” Launchpad cried as he scooped the smaller man up unto his arms, hugging him tight. The man was actually crying, pressing his face into Drake’s sweater, tears soaking through the thick fabric. It was so sudden it caught him by surprise, but… Maybe it shouldn’t have.

Maybe it was LP who needed to hear he was needed. The big lug probably never heard it from McDoofus and was starting to doubt how necessary he was in the grand scheme of things. And what was grander than Darkwing Duck? That must have been why Drake let the hug last as long as it did, why he stroked a hand over the man’s pilot cap, and why he ran his fingers through the shock of red hair that was visible out the front.

Minutes ticked by, and the ooey-gooey moment having gone on long enough; he coughed off to the side to try and bring back some normalcy to the situation. Admitting to feelings was usually such a nasty business. One that had blown up in his face before, literally, there was a bomb involved. But with LP he didn’t feel the same sense of vulnerability or defensiveness that came from admitting he ever felt anything but bold or brass. In fact, he felt—

“… So you’re staying?” He reiterated.

“Long as you need me.” LP pulled his face back from Drake’s sweater just enough that he could smile up at him, his eyes red and wet around the corners.

And Drake couldn’t help but cup the sides of the man’s face so he could wipe the remnants of those tears away.

The thought _so forever_ crossed his mind, and Drake felt an unfamiliar heat creep up his neck and spread across his cheeks. That sounded disconcertingly close to…

“And you need me?” He asked quieter than he’d meant to, his thumbs still stroking underneath Launchpad’s eyes even though the tears had stopped. And _wow_ , the lighting really was great in this house.

Comfortable in his sidekick’s arms, Drake waited patiently for an answer, and then—

Launchpad kissed him.

**Author's Note:**

> Just had one exchange of dialogue stuck in my head, and it didn't feel write putting JUST that up, so I wrote around it for context.


End file.
